On February 16th, 17th, and 18th, 2018, Columbia and Montour Counties will heat up with the 5th annual Destination Blues Music Festival, “Your Winter Blues Heaven on Route 11”, produced by The Exchange. Over those three days, 35 performances will take place at 18 venues in Berwick, Bloomsburg and Danville, with more than 90 musicians. Our two-county region makes its mark on the Blues map!

The Festival’s main event, on Saturday the 17th, will take place at the Caldwell Consistory on Market Street in downtown Bloomsburg and will feature Victor Wainwright & The Train. Victor has won the Blues Music Association’s Pinetop Perkins Piano Player Award and lights up stages wherever he goes. Six other bands will perform at the landmark Consistory that afternoon and evening, starting at 3 p.m.: Vanessa Collier, Mississippi Heat, Ursula Ricks, Bobby Kyle & The Administers, Dustin Douglas & The Electric Gentlemen, and the Uptown Music Collective’s 3rd Street Blues – once again this year’s Young Artists. Guests will enjoy locally-made food and drink as well as local vendors, and buses will run between the Consistory and participating hotels throughout the event.

For $25 advance tickets to Saturday’s main event, visit DestinationBlues.org; tickets will cost $30 at the door. Children 12 and under do not require a ticket and get in free.

On Sunday the 19th, the largest church sanctuary in Bloomsburg, at Wesley United Methodist, will host a FREE Gospel Blues performance by the Dave Keyes Gospel Revue, featuring Beareather Reddy and J.T. Bowen, along with a local choir. Dave Keyes has played with many great artists, including Odetta, David Johansen, Bo Diddley, and Alexis P. Suter and the Ministers of Sound. You do not want to miss this one-of-a-kind performance!

Friday will feature many local and regional artists in venues throughout the two counties, with no cover charge at any venue: Berwick Brewing, Bandit’s Roadhouse, Turkey Hill Brewing, Lightstreet Hotel, Marley’s Brewery, Balzano’s Italian Kitchen, Rose Marie’s, Fog & Flame, Endless Records, The Exchange, Filet 18, West End Ale Haus, the Pine Barn Inn, Old Forge Brewing, Rock God Brewing, and LT Evans. Free, convenient bus transportation will run among all of the venues and participating hotels, with schedules available in the Web site.

Blues musicians will also perform on Saturday morning and afternoon, before the main event, at Fog & Flame Coffee & Espresso and Balzano’s in Bloomsburg. On Sunday morning, before the Gospel Blues performance, Balzano’s will host a Blues Brunch.

For more information on the full line-up, including bus schedules and hotel options, visit DestinationBlues.org and Facebook.com/ColumbiaMontourBluesFest.

The Exchange produces Destination Blues as part of its mission to bring the arts to all communities throughout our region, with booking by Richard Briggs of the Briggs Farm Blues Festival.

Festival sponsors for 2018 include Columbia County, Montour County, the Columbia-Montour Visitors Bureau, First Columbia Bank & Trust (Young Artist Sponsor), Twin Bridges Storage, Service 1st Federal Credit Union, and PenTeleData. WNEP, the Patriot Inn, and the Bloomsburg EconoLodge support the festival through in-kind services.

For more information about the Exchange, visit ExchangeArts.org; contact us at 570-317-2596 or [email protected]